I was reading a post online and a woman wrote in that an editor completely changed her article. She said the changes didn't make sense and changed the tone of the article. Has this happened to you? Do they have the right to do that? What if it makes you sound idiotic? How would you handle this.
What do you do if an editor completely changes your article?
(4 posts) (4 voices)
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Yes, something similar happend to me, but not with an editor.
Before my first book came out a friend of mine found two people I didn't know, to read the manuscript for feedback and superficial proofreading.
The one guy who read it was wonderfull and he has since properly proofread all my books.
The woman who read it was terrible. She had lots of comments that didn't make sense and she told me it was better if I completely changed the book into something else, which meant a complete re-write, change of target audience etc.
I was rather taken aback by all this, as everyone else who had read the manuscript had loved it and thouught it was spot-on for the target audience.I thought about her suggestions long and hard, seriously considering them, but in the end came to the conclusion that I would leave it as it was. I had a gut feeling it would turn out okay, and besides I felt that the suggestions she proposed were a great idea for another book, but not the one I had just written.
In the end I am so glad I didn't listen to her. When the book came out it was immediately very well received and has sold nearly all the 3000 copies of it in three years. And for a book about local history that is really good. On top of that many people remarked to me afterwards about my book and said great things about all the sections the woman had wanted me to change.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Sometimes there's nothing you can do. Take the clip and run. When you sell an article it belongs to the editor and publication. They can change it if they want to do so. It's unfortunate if the tone of the article is drastically changed but there's nothing you can do. Unless, of course, you want to contact the editor. It may be wise to just let it go and move forward with your writing.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hi WriterMom2
I think this is a good example of why a freelance writer needs to carefully read the contract for any article they sell to a publication (this also applies if you 'give' an article, with no compensation).
MOST of the time the articles are not changed, other than light editing for spelling and grammar (and usually then only because a good editor also really wants the author to look good, in addition to keeping high editorial standards for the publication), but if your contract specifies that they can do what they want with it, then there's nothing you can do. Other than not write for that publication again, that is.
You could - and probably should - ask the editor why they chose to make those changes - perhaps there is some logic behind their decisions that might make sense to you, clear the air, and allow you to produce future articles for them that won't need editing.
But if you don't like the answers, then I agree with Rebecca - let it go and consider it a learning experience.
Posted 1 year ago #
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